Indians make up the largest migrant population in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. Indians are the principal national group when it comes to acquiring rich-country citizenship in 2022 and this has been the trend since 2019 (1.5 lakh), according to OECD’s International Migration Outlook 2023 report released recently.

In 2021, around 1.3 lakh Indians acquired the citizenship of an OECD country. The OECD is a group of 38 countries, mostly high-income and ranked high on the Human Development Index (HDI). India was followed by China and Romania. OECD-members are rich countries that have always attracted migrant populations and students. In 2021, 4 lakh new Indian migrants (excluding students) went to OECD-member countries. In 2020, the figure was 2.2 lakh, possibly due to closed borders during Covid.

Interestingly, the economic prosperity of India and the improving wealth of the Indians after economic liberalisation have coincided with more Indians seeking to migrate abroad. India has seen an upswing in legal economic migration. The outflow from India is not just restricted to English-speaking countries like the US, UK, Canada, and Australia but to Italy, Germany and The Netherlands. Indians migrate to other countries for better opportunities. To the advantage of the host country, they arrive with high skills and contribute to human capital development and technological progress. Indians have helped offset labour shortage by filling roles both in fast-growing and declining sectors of the economy of these developed nations. Overall, Indians abroad play a big role in putting India on the global map.

“Better economic opportunities are the primary reasons for Indians acquiring citizenship to rich OECD countries. Higher wages, improved living standards and career advancement plays a crucial role in this. Several OECD countries have skilled migration programmes that attract Indian professionals with skills in demand,” says Abhash Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College, Delhi University.

“Indian diaspora in OECD countries helps promote trade and investment ties between India and these countries. The diaspora facilitates business relationships and cross-border investments,” adds Mr Kumar.

A large migrant population means a huge cash inflow for India due to the remittances from overseas Indians and the money they park in Indian banks as NRI deposits. Both these factors help the country’s external balance. Remittances from abroad obviously have a large impact on the individual families and increase their purchasing capacity. In 2022, the inflow was $111 billion, about 3.3 percent of GDP.

According to the World Bank, almost 36 per cent of the country’s remittance inflows are sourced from high-skilled migrants in the US, UK and Singapore. Skilled Indian migrants in The Netherlands fill some of the critical vacancies in the IT sector. More than two lakh Indian migrants are working in the agricultural and dairy sectors in Italy. India and Italy are close to finalising a migration and mobility partnership deal. The agreement aims to ensure transparent and ‘clean’ migration to curb the exploitation of migrants by touts and agents. Portugal, Germany and Austria have already signed agreements on migration and mobility with India.

However, there is a flipside. Large-scale migration also implies India is still miles behind other developed countries in providing quality education, employment and ease of living. Indians continue to go abroad not only for greener pastures – better employment and money, work-life balance – but also because our education system is below par and so is the job market. It is not just high net worth Indians who have left the country; educated unemployed who couldn’t get jobs here have also jumped ship. Millions of young talented Indians from various disciplines have left in search of better opportunities.

“India ranks low on happiness and peace (136), Human development index-131; Indian passport ranked 87th on the passport index released by Henley Passport Index. India still has partial capital account convertibility. The major reasons for leaving Indian citizenship are financial constraints, education of children, lack of social security benefits, tax legislations, healthcare, standard of living and ease of travelling,” says Sujata Pandey, former director, Atharva Institute of Management, Mumbai.

As India’s young, skilled labour force leaves home in search of better rewards for their effort and talent, it also means a lost opportunity for the country to grow faster. The loss of the fiscal contributions of these highly skilled individuals is a big loss for the country.

“Migration as well as Indians acquiring foreign citizenship deprives India of a huge tax revenue as the diaspora do not pay taxes for their earnings. It results in double drain for India. Firstly, the nation loses its hard acquired talent and skills- both technical and professional. When millionaires acquire foreign citizenship, the nation is deprived of the benefits of the huge investment of scarce resources made on education of these individuals by India,” says TR Chandrashekhara, development economist.

Millennials raised with a western outlook in privileged schools find it easier to insert themselves in developed western countries than suffer the ignominy of the rat race and struggle in India. Their parents have the financial means to facilitate their life-altering decision.

The gaps that compel people to leave the country must be plugged. Ensuring better quality of life, job opportunities, social structure, financial and social security, development, gender equality, freedom in all walks of life are some ways the government can stop its human capital from becoming an asset to other countries.

India’s rapidly growing economy and burgeoning pool of young talent are the envy of many nations. While Indian migrants continue to be our goodwill ambassador, the brain-drain challenge casts a shadow over India’s growth prospects, especially when it aims to be a developed country by 2047.

(Bharti Mishra Nath is a senior journalist).

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.

Tata Group will start making Apple iPhones in India for domestic and global markets within two and a half years, announced Electronics and Technology Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar today. The development underscores India’s growing production prowess and reflects a significant departure from Apple’s previous strategy of selling mostly Chinese-made new devices to frenzied customers across the world. With this, the group will become India’s first homegrown iPhone maker.

“@GoI_MeitY stands fully in support in growth of Global Indian Electronics companies that will in turn support global Electronic brands that want to make India their trusted manufacturing and talent partner and to realize PM’s goal of making India a global electronics power,” Mr Chandrasekhar posted on X, formerly Twitter.

PM @narendramodi Ji’s visionary PLI scheme has already propelled India into becoming a trusted & major hub for smartphone manufacturing and exports.

Now within just two and a half years, @TataCompanies will now start making iPhones from India for domestic and global markets from… pic.twitter.com/kLryhY7pvL

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar ?? (@Rajeev_GoI) October 27, 2023

The group has acquired the operations of Apple supplier Wistron Corp which announced the development in a board meeting today for about $125 million, according to a company statement. The Union Minister also thanked Wistron for “building a global supply chain from India with Indian companies at its helm”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s financial incentives to boost local manufacturing and Apple’s strategy to look beyond China amid a Washington-Beijing trade war have helped India become increasingly important to the iPhone maker’s diversification drive.

“PM Modi Ji’s visionary PLI scheme has already propelled India into becoming a trusted and major hub for smartphone manufacturing and exports,” Mr Chandrasekhar said.

The PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme – which aims at boosting domestic manufacturing, creating jobs and supporting exports – was announced in 2021 for 14 sectors, including large-scale electronic manufacturing, white goods, textiles, manufacturing of medical devices, automobiles, specialty steel, food products, high-efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell battery, drones and pharmaceuticals with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore.

Earlier this year, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that Apple exported $5 billion (roughly Rs. 41,200 crore) worth of goods from India in 2022, while stating that the company plans to produce 25 per cent of global units in the country within the next four to five years.

The takeover of the Wistron Corp factory in Karnataka by India’s largest conglomerate has capped about a year of negotiations.

The 150-year-old group – which sells everything from salt to tech services – sought to make inroads into electronics production and e-commerce over the past few years.

The company already makes iPhone chassis, or the metal backbone of the device, at its factory spread over hundreds of acres of land in Tamil Nadu.

The Bar Council of India has revised the schedule for the All India Bar Examination-18 (AIBE 18).

As per the revised schedule, the online registration will now close on  November 10, 2023. The last date of payments through online mode for the exam is November 11, 2023.

The previous deadline to submit the registrations was November 4. The last date for correction in  registration form is November 12, 2023. 

The admit cards will be released from November 25, 2023 to November 30, 2023. 

The examination has been scheduled for December 3,2023. The exam was previously set for November 26.

The council also mentioned in the notification that the passing percentage in the exam is fixed at 45% for General  /OBC candidates and at 40% for SC/ST and specially abled candidates.

All India Bar Examination is certification exam conducted twice a year by Bar Council of India for law graduates who wish to start practice of profession as Lawyer. The exam is conducted in 50 cities having 140 centres as an open book exam. The exam is conducted to assess basic level knowledge of a member and lay down minimum benchmark for entering into practice of law in addition to assessing candidate’s analytical skills. 

Steps to apply for the AIBE 18 exam
Step 1: Go to the official website
Step 2: On the homepage, click on AIBE 18 registration link.
Step 3: You will be redirected to a new page, enter your email ID to log in.
Step 4: Fill out the AIBE 18 registration form by entering all the necessary details.
Step 5: Upload the specified documents, and pay the examination fee via online mode.
Step 6: Submit the form and take a printout of it.